Taiwan puts on education fair in LA to draw students

LOS ANGELES--Taiwan held a higher education fair in Los Angeles Saturday, the first time it has tried to draw students from the United States' highly competitive educational environment to Taiwan.

The unprecedented fair, held at the Culture Center of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, was primarily targeted at drawing Taiwanese expatriates in the U.S. to study in Taiwan.

Education Minister Chiang Wei-ling, who was in attendance, said the event represented Taiwan's transition from an exporter of students to foreign countries to an importer of foreign students into Taiwan, and he believed Taiwan has plenty to offer.

The high quality of higher education in Taiwan can be seen by the outstanding world rankings of many of its universities, Chiang said, and tuition in Taiwan is relatively low compared to that in the U.S.

A student can get a formal degree in Taiwan for the cost of a semester's tuition in America, he said.